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— 







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empreinte. 

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et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Let>  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  m6thode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 


6 


1 


[ENLARGED  FROM  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  REVIEW  JUNE  1889.] 


What  is 


The  Destiny  of  Canada? 


BY  ERflSTUS   WlMflN. 


New  YoF(K  ; 

314    BRCfADWAY, 

AUGUST,   1880. 


'*     "t- ' 


<    s 


I" 


"The  highest  truth  the  wise  man  sees,  he  will  fen,rlessly  utter, 
knowing  that  come  what  may  of  it,  be  is  thus  playing  his  right  part 
in  the  world,— knowing  that  if  he  can  effect  the  change  he  aims  at, 
well;  if  not  well  also,  but  not  so  well."— Herbert  Spencer. 


WHAT  IS 


THE  DESTINY  OF  CANADA? 


t)  --:'  -  .. 


5sly  utter, 
right  part 
e  aims  at, 


J* 


Eight  men  of  every  ten  in  the  United  States,  who 
have  thought  upon  the  subject,  have  reached  the  con- 
clusion that  Canada  ought  to  belong  to  that  country. 
This  decision  has  not  been  reached  by  an  elaborate 
process  of  reasoning,  nor  by  a  mature  consideration  of 
the  consequences  of  such  an  event.  The  general  belief 
that  the  United  States  comprises  nearly  all  that  is 
worth  having  on  the  continent  makes  it  easy  for  the 
average  American  to  jump  to  the  conclusion  that  what 
remains  ought  to  be  included  within  the  Union.  With- 
out realizing  the  magnitude  of  the  country  to  the 
north,  or  making  any  estimate  of  its  possibilities,  the 
general  conclusion  is  that  its  addition  to  the  United 
States  would  not  disturb  or  imperil  the  existing  system. 
A  more  careful  study  of  the  matter  might  lead  to  a 
different  conclusion  ;  but,  in  view  of  the  feeling  which 
now  prevails,  the  eventual  acquisition  of  Canadf\  as  a 
National  policy  would  be  approved  by  an  immense 
majority. 

While  the  opinion  that  Canada  should  belong  to  the 
United  States  is  general,  no  one  proposes  to  achieve  it 


Pr)LITICAT-    CONTENTMENT    OF    CANADA. 


by  other  than  peaceable  means.  In  the  event  of  war 
with  Enghind,  pubhc  sentiment  would  entirely  change, 
and  Canada  would  thon  be  the  battle-ground.  It  might 
even  happen  that  a  persistence  i^y  the  Canadian  Gov- 
ernment in  a  nagging  and  unfriendly  policy,  as  shown  in 
the  harsh  and  antiquated  interpretation  of  the  Fishery 
Treaty,  the  constant  invitation  to  retaliation  by  acts  of 
apparent  bad  neighborhood,  by  hostile  tariffs  and 
other  irritating  influences,  might  work  up  a  sentiment 
in  the  United  States  that  would  demand  and  justify  the 
military  capture  of  Canada,  If,  indeed,  the  anti-British 
vote  in  the  United  States  had- any  real  influence  upon 
the  policy  of  the  country  (which  it  has  not),  some  mill- 
ta-ry  advantage  might  be  taken  of  Canada's  weakness, 
by  reason  of  its  remoteness  from  Great  Britain,  and  the 
enormous  preponderance  of  the  United  States.  But 
up  to  the  present  hour  there  is  not  the  slightest  sign, 
in  any  class  or  in  any  direction,  of  a  desire  to  acquire 
Canada  other  than  bv  the  free  and  unbiassed  consent 
of  her  own  people.      4         v        ,  i 

While  it  may  be  said,  in  truth,  that  eight  of  every 
ten  men  in  the  United  States  would  like  to  see  Canada 
a  part  of  the  Union,  it  could,  until  recently,  with  equal 
truth  be  alleged  that,  in  Canada,  eight  of  every  ten 
Canadians  preferred  to  preserve  existing  political  con- 
ditions, and  to  remain  part  and  parcel  of  the  British' 
Empire.  An  agitation  for  closer  coinmercial  relations, 
which  have  been  denied  to  them  ;  a  persistence  in  a 
restrictive  and  offensive  policy  toward  the  United 
States,  and  an  attempt  to  divert  public  opinion  in  favor 
of  some  form  of  Imperial   Feue  dtion  with   other  colo- 


THE   ANNEXATION   SENTIMENT. 


niea,  liave,  it  is  true,  created  a  sentiment  in  favor  of  an- 
nexation nearly  as  pionouneecl  as  the  Tory  manifesto  of 
1849.  This  tendency  has  recently  been  quickened  by 
the  encroachments  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and 
its  evident  hold  upon  legislation,  as  evinced  in  large 
grants  of  public  money  to  Jesuits  in  Quebec,  which 
were  afterwards  confirmed  by  a  preponderating  vote 
of  the  Dominion  Parliament.  It  is  true  that  this 
growth  of  the  annexation  sentiment  is  denied  by  super- 
loyalists,  and  subsidized  supporters  of  the  present  ad- 
ministration, and  its  existence  for  any  present  political 
purpose  is  ignored.  Yet  it  is  claimed  by  some  ob- 
servers that,  if  a  secret  ballot  were  taken  in  Canada  to- 
day on  the  question,  a  vast  number  of  the  voters  would 
be  found  to  favor  a  political  union.  But  the  fact  tht^t  a 
secret  ballot  would  have  to  be  taken  in  order  to  evoke 
any  pronounced  opinion  in  ;!-s  behalf,  is  the  significant 
circumstance  by  which  the  force  of  the  movement  is  to 
be  judged.  No  man,  however  favorable  he  may  be  to 
a  political  union  between  the  two  countries,  and  with  a 
perfect  knowledge  of  the  conditions  that  prevail,  can 
believe  that  such  a  revolution  in  public  sentiment  is 
possible  as  would  elect,  within  a  period  of  twenty  years, 
a  Parliament  whose  main  plank  should  be  annexation 
to  the  United  States.  True,  nov'  and  then  there  are 
indications  of  a  growing  party  in  favor  of  political 
union ;  but  their  rarity  and  inconsequent  character 
show  that,  while  the  sentiment  may  *be  a  growing  one, 
many  years  will  pass  before  it  is  sufficiently  effective 
to  become  a  force  in  practical  politics. 
It  must  always   be  borne  in  mind  that  the  great 


LOYALTY  TO  GLEAT  BRITAm. 


body  of  thinking  Canadians  are  quite  content  with 
their  present  political  condition.  In  the  absence  of 
universal  suffrage,  and  wanting  the  constant  additions^ 
of  a  foreign  vote  which  threatens  the  political  extinc- 
tion of  the  American  ;  in  the  absence  also  of  an  elec- 
tive judiciary  ;  with  a  system  of  government  less  de- 
pendent upon  the  corner  saloon,  the  professional 
politician,  and  the  ward  boss  ;  with  an  admirable  code 
of  election  laws,  under  which  bribery  is  difficult,  if  not 
impossible ;  and  with  many  other  improvements  upon 
ihe  American  system,  the  political  contentment  of  the 
Canadian  is  assured.  Aside  from  this,  there  is  a 
sincere  and  ardent  attachmeijt  to  British  institutions, 
and  especially  to  the  person  of  Her  Majesty,  Queen 
Victoria.  It  could  hardly  fail  to  be  otherwise.  Eng- 
land has  treated  Canada  with  the  utmost  liberality, 
and  it  has  often  been  said  that  if,  prior  to  the  Revo- 
lution, Great  Britain  had  treated  the  colonies  with  the 
san-o  consideration  and  cooperation,  there  would  have 
been  no  Declaration  of  Independence.  Made  up  as 
Canada  largely  is  of  descendants  of  United  Empire 
Loyalists,  and  of  former  resideirts  of  Great  Britain  or 
their  immediate  descendants,  between  whom  and  the 
mother  countrv  there  is  a  close  business  and  social 
connection,  how  is  it  possible  that  an  allegiance  so  con- 
stant and  beneficial  should  be  suddenly  and  without 
justification  severed  ?  This  is  all  the  more  unlikely 
when  it  is  recalled  that  there  is  now  a  steady  stream 
of  immigration  into  the  great  Northwest,  made  up 
of  English  people  who  deliberately  prefer  to  live  under 
British  rule. 


THE    FRENCH   CATHOLIC    CUUKCH. 


Perhaps  the  most  serious  barrier,  however,  to  the 
vital  change  in  the  political  condition  of  Canada  which 
would  follow  annexation  to  the  United  States,  is  the 
French  Canadian  element,  under  the  dominant  in- 
fluence of  tho  lloman  Catholic  Church.  It  may  be 
doubted  if  anywhere  else  in  tlie  world  this  groat 
clerical  institution  rules  more  absolutely  than  in 
Quebec.  Elsewhere  its  power  and  influence  diminish  ; 
its  wealth  is  stationary  or  decreases  ;  but  here,  in  free 
North  America,  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  the  Koman 
Catholic  Church  ip  becoming  so  dominant,  so  success- 
ful in  a  business  point  of  view,  and  so  generally  ag- 
gressive, as  to  create  serious  alarm  for  the  future  in 
the  minds  of  the  Protestants  of  Canada.  The  marvel- 
lous fecuQ  iity  of  the  French  race,  their  thrift,  industry 
and  contentment,  are  elements  of  vital  strength  in  this 
religious  propaganda;  and  already  considerable  areas, 
formerly  jointly  occupied  by  Protestant  and  Catholic 
communities,  are  given  up  to  French  domination. 
Special  privileges,  the  right  to  levy  tithes,  protection, 
and  other  important  advantages  are  assured  io  the 
Frenph  church  under  existing  political  conditions. 
These,  it  is  feared,  would  be  materially  lessened  should 
annexation  to  the  United  States  ever  occur,  although 
there  is  nothing  in  the  usual  State  Constitution  that 
would  prohibit  the  exercise  of  these  privileges,  nor  is 
there  any  such  prohibition  in  the  Federal  Constitution 
v/hich  joins  the  States  together.  The  complete  control 
of  education,  the  possession  of  vast  estates  for  religious 
purposes,  freedom  from  local  taxation,  and  public 
grants,   it  is  true,  is   possible   in   a   free  State  of  the 


6 


PR0DIGT0U8   aROWTH   OF   THE   FRENCH   RACE. 


Union.  But  what  would  bo  feared  would  be  the 
danger  of  an  influx  into  Quebec  of  int(  lligent  Protest- 
ants, owing  to  the  develojjment  of  natural  resourceK 
and  the  increase  of  foreign  capital  as  a  result  of  annox- 
ation.  The  influences  of  a  progressive  spirit,  greater 
intelligence,  higher  forms  of  education,  and  freedom  of 
inquiry  into  the  power  and  influence  of  the  (;hurch, 
would  be  more  dreaded  in  the  Province  of  Quebec  than 
even  a  change  in  the  political  conditions. 

Turning  for  a  moment  from  a  consideration  of  the 
obstacles  in  Canada  itself  to  annexfttion,  it  may  not  be 
amiss  to  direct  the  attentioi)  of  the  thinking  people  of 
the  United  States  to  tiie  possible  consequences  of  the 
admission  into  the  Union  of  such  a  State  as  Quebec 
might  become  in  the  event  of  its  absorption,  a  state 
of  enormous  proportions  and  possibilities,  whose 
peoj)le  and  politics  were  entirely  dominated  by  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church.  There  are  not  i\  few  who  feel 
that  the  growth  of  this  great  religious  organization  in 
the  United  States,  especially  as  to  its  influence  on 
educational  affairs,  is  a  tendency  full  of  deep  significance 
to  the  institutions  of  this  country.  In  New  England 
especially,  with  the  rapidly  changing  character  of  its 
population,  the  apprehension  is  freely  indulged  in  that 
the  growth  of  Catholicism  is  full  of  peril,  not  only  to 
the  common  school  system,  but  to  other  vital  interests 
of  a  popular  and  fi'ee  government.  To  admit  into  the 
Union  a  state  which  has  for  its  distinguishing  feature 
a  State  Church  and  a  control  by  priestcraft  of  almost 
all  the  affairs  of  its  people,  temporal  as  well  as 
spiritual,  would  be  to  create  a  compact  force  within  the 


i} 


A   FKEE   STATE    WITH   A   STATE   CHURCH. 


9 


Union  itself,  from  which  would  radiate  influences 
throughout  the  rest  of  the  cuontry  whi(5li  many  could 
jiot  contemplate  without  anxious  apprehension.  This 
apprehension  is  all  the  bettor  grounded  when  the 
rapidity  of  the  growth  of  the  French  Catholic  element 
oil  this  continent  is  thoroughly  understood,  as  it  may 
f)e  by  some  remarkabh^  figures,  quite  recently  furnished 
by  that  astute  politician,  the  able  Premier  of  Quebec, 
the  Hon.  Honor<^  Mercier.  These  figures  show  that 
while  in  17()3,  at  the  cessicni  of  Canada  to  the  English, 
the  French  population  numbered  only  70,000,  in  1890, 
without  immigration  of  any  moment  whatever,  they 
will  number,  in  Quebec,  1,200,000,  elsewhere  in  the 
Dominion,  300,000,  and  in  the  United  States,  1,000,000; 
making  a  total  French  population  on  this  continent  of 
2,500,000,  a  pr()digiou8  development,  at  the  rate  of 
8,100  per  cent,  in  125  years,  equivalent  to  25  per 
cent,  per  annum  !  In  other  words,  the  French  popula- 
tion in  1890,  as  compared  with  120  years  ago,  will  be 
as  31  to  1.  To  illustrate  the  significance  of  these 
startling  figures,  it  may  be  stat<  1  that  had  the  United 
States,  with  all  its  immigration  'd  everything  else  to 
help  it,  grown  with  the  same  rapi^  ty,  it  would,  at  this 
date,  have  a  population  of  slightly  over  100,000,000 
instead  of  its  existing  65,000,000.  It  is  no  wonder 
that  Premier  Mercier,  in  Canadian  cartoons,  is  repre- 
sented as  dreaming  of  the  total  occupancy  of  the 
Dominion  by  the  French  race,  especially  when  he 
indulges,  as  he  does  in  his  recent  paper,  in  the  belief 
that  the  combined  French  element  in  Canada  and  the 
United  States,  in  fifty    years,  with   the    same    ratio 


••1 


:\  ■"  >' 


^HrJ 


A   SERIOUS   OONSTDERATION. 


.  -V 


% 


of  increase,  will  amount  to  between  15,000,000  and 
18,000,000  souls.  Just  what  influence  this  vast  aggrega- 
tion of  practically  foreign  population,  if  admitted  into 
the  United  States  in  compact  and  controllable  shape, 
might  have  on  the  future  of  this  country,  if  under  the 
rigid  control  of  priest  and  politician  as  now  illustrated 
in  Quebec,  it  is  impossible  to  foresee,  but  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  its  contemplation  will  somewhat  lessen  the 
ardor  for  the  annexation  of  a  country  containing  such 
possibilities. 

Meantime,  returning  again  to  Canada,  an  influence 
adverse  to  annexation  prevails  there,  the  force^and  uni- 
versality of  which  very  few  in  the  United  States  appre- 
hend. It  is  a  Protestant  force,  and  its  reason  for  ex- 
istence is  opposition  to  the  encroachments  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  ;  and  yet,  so  pronounced  is 
its  loyalty,  so  prejudiced  and  ignorant  is  it  in  regard  to 
the  United  States,  that  it  would  unite  with  its  bitterest 
enemy  to  maintain  British  supremacy.  This  force  is  the  I 
secret  society  known  as  the  Orange  order,  which,  owing 
to  recent  events  in  the  progress  of  Jesuitism,  is  likely 
to  become,  in  conjunction  with  various  sectarian  bodieSj 
the  most  powerful  organization  in  Protestant  Canada. 
It  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  a  body  of  men  more 
vociferously  loyal  to  the  Crown  ;  and  in  view  of  the 
antecedents  of  its  members,  their  prejudices  and  pecul- 
iat'  rites — in  which  an  oath  to  maintain  the  British 
rule  is  the  chief  obligation  assumed — it  is  diflScult  to 
see  how  political  union  can  be  attained  while  such  an 
organization  exercises  an  influence  so  powerful.  It 
would,  therefore,  seem  that  two  great  organized  forces 


w 


THE   ATTITUDE   OF   GREAT    BRITAIN. 


11 


— to  wit,  Protestaut  and  Catholic  Canada — are  arrayed 
against  any  political  change  whatever. 

In  considering  the  obstacles  to  a  political  nnion  of 
Canada  with  the  United  States,  nothing  has  been  said 
as  to  the  feeling  of  Great  Britain  on  this  question.  It 
would  seem  almost  incredible  that  the  offi3ial  and  aris- 
tocratic class,  which  is  so  powerful  in  England,  will 
favor  the  loss  of  nearly  half  of  the  British  Empire, 
which  would  be  the  result  of  the  annexation  of  Canada. 
The  colonial  policy  of  Great  Britain  has  been  largely 
stimulated  by  the  expectation  that  trade  would  follow 
the  flag,  and  that,  if  the  English  flag  ceased  to  be  em- 
blematic of  governmental  control,  English  trade  would 
languish  and  cease.  Again  the  growth  of  a  republican 
sentiment  in  Great  Britain,  which  threatens  existing 
institutions,  would,  it  is  presumed,  receive  an  enormous 
impulse  shoul^d  these  principles  of  government,  by  a 
single  act,  be  extended  over  so  large  a  part  of  the 
British  Empire  as  is  included  within  the  greater  half 
of  the  continent  of  North  America.  Still  further,  if 
?iGreat  Britain  has  spent  millions  of  money  and  sacrificed 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  lives  to  make  conquests  in 
distant  parts  of  the  world,  it  would  be  a  complete  re- 
versal of  policy  to  abandon  or  cede  so  great  a  country 
as  Canada,  cheerfully  and  without  a  murmur.  When 
one  recalls  how  essential  to  her  political  and  military 
supremacy  is  the  possessic  i  of  outlying  posts,  such  aa 
Gibraltar,  Malta,  Bermuda,  and  other  strongholds,  it 
seems  incredible  that  she  would  willingly  relinquish 
Halifax  on  the  Atlantic,  or  Vancouver  on  the  Pacific. 
In  addition  to  all  this  the  new-born  hopes  of  an  alter- 


12 


PARIJLAMENTARY    EXTINCTION    IMPROBABLE. 


native  route,  within  British  territory,  to  her  vast  East- 
ern possessions,  and  the  expectations  that  have  been 
raised  in  the  minds  of  English  capitalists  as  to  the  de- 
velopment of  a  great  Eastern  trade  through  English 
channels,  as  shown  in  the  recent  Pacific  steam&hi]) 
subf^idies,  are  all  opposed  to  the  assumption  that  En- 
gland would  for  a  moment  consider  favorably  a  proposi- 
tion that  her  great  colony  of  Canada  should  immedi- 
ately become  part  and  parcel  of  the  United  States. 

In  all  this  enumeration,  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the 
annexation  of  Canada  to  the  United  States  which,  for 
the  moment  seem  insurmountable,  present  themselves. 
How  many  years  mast  elapse  before  these  difficulties 
fwill  disappear  so  as  to  permit  the  election  of  a  Parlia- 
ment in  Canada  that  will  demand  separation  from  the 
mother-country  ?     How  many  years  will  elapse  before 
Parliament  puts  an  end  to  its  own  existence,  and,  filter- 
ing  into   a   requisite    number    of    State    legislatures, 
merges  itself  into  a  Congressional  delegation  at  Wash- 
ington ?     The  possibility  of  such  a  catastrophe  to  the 
Senate  of  Canada,  who  are  all  selected  for  life,  and 
,  whose  animating  sentiment  is  loyalty    to  the  British 
crown,   it    is    impossible    to    contemplate    with    any 
^expectation  that  its  remnant  would  survive  to  tell  the 
■  tale.     Certainly  not  within  the  present  generation  does 
such  a  consummation  as  the  extinction  of  Parliament 
seem  possible  to  the  average  Canadian,  who  is  familiar 
with  the  feeling  of  loj^alty  to  the  British  crown  on  the 
<  ae  hand,  and,  on  the  other,  the  political  cowardice 
.did  mock  sentimentality  that  exist  throughout  Canada, 
which,  even  in  the  presence  of  a  marked  change  favor- 


!^<'' 


S3» 


X   POSSIBLE    COMMERCIAL   UNION. 


13 


able  to  open  trade  relations  with  the  United  States,  and 
while  one-fourth  of  its  adult  population  is  already  in 
this  country,  shrieks  hysterically,  "  Treason  1  "  "  Re- 
bellion ! "  Under  these  circumstances  a  political  union 
seems  too  remote  to  justify  its  present  consideration, 
from  a  business  point  of  view  at  least. 

The  peculiarities  of  the  Canadians — their  sturdy 
Anglo-Saxon  nature  -make  the  task  a  hopeless  one, 
oither  to  drive  or  force  them  into  submission.  More- 
over, the  great  masn  of  the  American  people  would  dis- 
approve such  a  policy.  Those  who  might  favor  it  would 
soon  find  that  the  people  at  large,  especially  the  great 
mass  of  business  men,  would  much  prefer  a  more  ^at- 
ural  and  a  more  profitable  course.  If  a  imion  of  nations 
on  this  continent  is  to  be  brought  about  except  by  con- 
quest, it  must  be  brought  about  by  union  of  interests. 
Unless  a  political  union  can  be  achieved  by  a  perfect 
acquiescence  in  the  advantages  and  superiority  of  the 
institutions  of  the  United  States,  a  political  union 
would  be  a  serious  and  fatal  mistake. 

It  remains,  therefore,  to  consider  whether  a  Com- 
mercial Policy  cannot  be  immediately  inaugurated  by 
both  countries  which  will  materially  benefit  both  na- 
tions, without  political  union,  and  which  might  have 
the  eventual  effect  of  removing  the  obstacles  to  political 
union.  There  are  those  who  think  that  a  policy  of 
retaliation — for  which  they  allege  Canada  has  afforded 
abundant  justification — would  starve  the  Dominion  into 
submission  ;  there  are  others  who  believe  that  a  steady 
persistence  in  the  policy  of  rigid  and,  perhaps,  oflfensive 
indiflference  will  result   in  Canada  dropping  like  a  ripe 


•>    A 


<^ 


'^y 


Li 


14 


ADVANTAGES  TO  UNITED  STATES. 


plnm  into  the  ever-open  mouth  of  the  United  States. 
But  hfe  is  too  short  for  either  of  these  policies  to  v^ork 
out  a  union  of  the  English-speaking  people  on  this 
continent  in  our  day. 

With  this  conception  in  view,  a  movement  in  favor 
of  a  Commercial  Union  between  the  two  countries  has 
been  for  some  time  making  steady  progress  on  both 
sides  of  the  border.  It  has  met  with  surprising  favor 
in  the  United  States  among  merchants,  bankers,  and 
manufacturers,  and  especially  among  the  latter  in  New 
England  industrial  centres,  who  see  in  it  a  hopeful  sign 
for  a  supply  of  raw  material  and  cheapened  food,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  an  enlarged  market  for  the  product 
of  their  industry,  on  the  other.  Nova  Scotia  to  the 
New  England  States  is  a  new  Alabama,  within  easy 
reach,  with  resources  equally  important,  especially  to 
the  regeneration  of  her  iron  industries.  Without  some 
such  advantage  these  are  doomed  to  extinction,  in  view 
of  the  competition  of  the  Southern  and  Western  States. 
With,  however,  sources  of  supply  of  iron,  coal  and  coke 
and  cheap  food  from  Nova  Scotia,  New  England  iron 
industries  would  be  able  to  hold  their  own  against  all 
competitors  whether  at  home  qi*  abroad.  It  would  save 
those  who  had  hitherto  been  strenuous  advocates  of  pro- 
tection the  humiliation  of  sueing  for  partial  abandonment 
of  that  principle  in  order  to  procure  free  raw  material. 
When  also  a  period  is  reached  that  a  reduction  of  taxa- 
tion is  decided  upon  this  near-by  supply  of  raw  material 
from  Canada,  should  enable  New  England  to  compete 
in  all  the  markets  of  the  world,  owing  to  its  advanta- 
geous position  on  the  sea-board. 


W' 


FAVORABLE   ACTION   OF   CONGRESS. 


16 


on 


to 


•:■  V  ■  .■ 


The  necessity  of  the  woolen  manufacturing  interest, 
now  so  greatly  depressed,  would  be  greatly  served  by  a 
free  supply  of  Canadian  wool,  well  known  to  be  of  a 
character  greatly  prized  and,  indeed,  essential  to  mix 
with  American  wool.  In  New  Brunswick  and  Quebec 
(the  latter  comprising  five  times  the  area  of  New  York 
State)  there  would  be  stimulated  the  growth  of  wool  and 
other  essential  supplies ;  fiom  the  great  Province  of 
Ontario — the  most  favored  spot  on  the  continent — there 
would  be  derived  an  infinite  variety  of  products,  from 
the  mine,  the  forest,  and  the  field  ;  while  in  the 
enormous  wheat-producing  areas  of  the  Canadian  north- 
western territories  there  would  be  found  a  receptacle 
for  immigration  from  all  the  world,  thus  affording  a 
field  for  western  trade  and  for  western  transportation  of 
the  greatest  possible  consequence.  As  for  the  Pacific 
coast,  no  boon  could  be  afforded  to  California  and 
Oregon  greater  than  is  implied  in  the  essential  supplies 
from  British  Columbia  of  the  finest  coal,  the  largest 
timber,  and  the  enormous  fishing  wealth  which  the 
coast  of  that  province  affords — a  coast  the  extent  of 
which  the  reader  will  realize  when  he  is  told  that  it 
covers  a  mileage  as  great  as  from  Florida  in  the  south 
to  the  upper  boundary  of  Maine  on  the  north. 

In  furtherance  of  the  pronounced  sentiment  in  behalf 
of  a  commercial  policy  that  would  make  all  these  pal- 
pable advantages  almost  immediately  available,  a  most 
significant  event  was  the  unanimous  passage,  at  the 
close  of  the  last  session  of  Congress,  by  the  House  of 
Representatives,  of  a  resolution  which,  had  it  been  as- 
sented  to  by   the   Senate,  would  have  proved  a  great 


k) 


EFFECTS   IN   UNITED   STATUES  AND   CANADA. 

stride  towards  a  permanent  and  most  beneficial  settle- 
ment of  all  difficulties  between  the  two  nations.  This 
resolution,  the  movement  towards  which  originated  in 
the  fertile  mind  of  the  Hon.  Benjamin  Butterworth, 
but  was  eventually  promoted  by  that  sagacious  states- 
man, the  Hon.  R.  R.  Hitt,  of  Illinois,  is  in  the  following 
words;      '^'}!:r-^K'\,._     . 

V  Resolved  b^  t/ie  Senate  and  Iloxtse  of  Representatkes  of  the  United 
States,  rf:c.,  That  whenever  it  shall  l)e  duly  certified  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States  that  the  Government  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada 
has  declared  a  desire  to  establish  commercial  union  wi*L  the  United 
States,  having  a  uniform  revenue,  system,  like  internal  taxes  to  he 
collected,  and  like  import  duties  to  be  imposed,  on  articles  brought 
into  either  country  from  other  nations,  with  no  duties  upon  trade 
between  the  United  States  and  Canada,  he  shall  appoint  three  com- 
missioners to  meet  these  who  may  be  likewise  designated  to  repre- 
sent the  Government  of  Canada,  to  prepare  a  plan  for  the  assimila- 
tion of  the  import  duties  and  internal  revenue  taxes  of  the  two 
countries,  and  an  equitable  division  of  receipts,  in  a  commercial 
union ;  and  said  Commissioners  shall  report  to  the  President,  who 
shall  lay  the  report  before  Congress. 


The  effect  in  the  United  States  of  the  passage  of  this 
resolution  would  simply  be  to  give  shape  and  form  to^, 
a  desire  for  an  enlarged  relation  with  the  greater  half 
of  the  continent,  on  terms  of  a  mutuality  of  interest  as 
perfect  as  is  possible  to  be  created,  and  to  disclose, 
as  the  result  of  inquiry,  for  the  subsequent  action  of 
Congress,  the  advantages  to  both  countries  which  would 
flow  from  the  adoption  of  this  policy.  The  effect  in 
Canada  of  the  adoption  of  such  a  policy  by  the  United 
States  would  be,  at  the  proper  time,  an  acquiescence  in 
it  of  a  most  marked   character.     The   vast  majority  of 


V 


-^   r 


A  COMMEECUL  UNION   PAKLIAMENT. 


!•/ 


the  population  of  Canada  is  made  up  of  men  whose  in- 
terests would  be  enormously  advanced  by  an  open 
market  in  the  United  States,  and  a  cheapened  supply  of 
manufactured  goods, — composed  largely  as  that  people 
ip  of  farmers,  lumbermen,  miners  and  fishermen.  These 
number  three  to  one  the  class  who  would  be  adversely 
affected,  such  as  manufacturers,  artisans  and  profes- 
sional men.  But  even  among  these  latter  it  is  certain 
that  a  very  large  contingent  are  favorable  to  improved 
relations  with  this  country.  It  is  believed  by  those 
who  watch  the  trend  of  affairs  that  a  general  parba- 
mentary  election,  which  occurs  within  two  years,  will 
result  in  a  triumph  for  Commercial  Union,  should  the 
United  States  promptly  offer  terms  similar  to  those 
set  forth  in  the  above  resolution.  The  election  of  a 
Parliament  having  a  Commercial-Union  complexion 
would  result  in  the  passage  of  a  bill  giving  practical 
shape  to  the  proposition  above  set  forth.  Such  an 
event  may  have  most  momentous  consequences,  not 
only  in  Canada  and  in  the  United  States  but  upon  the 
relations  that  will  thereafter  exist  between  Canada  and 
England.  It  is  to  the  very  critical  conditions  that  looutd 
thus  he  created  betiveen  Great  Britain  and  her  (/reate.^t 
colony,  that  the  aitentioii  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
is  now  most  earnestly  asked. 

Heretofore  the  Dominion  has  shaped  her  own  fiscal 
policy,  and  has  been  permitted,  in  her  freedom  of  action 
to  create  a  customs  barrier  against  English  goods  in 
common  with  those  from  the  United  States  and  from 
other  countries.  But  it  is  pushing  this  freedom  of 
action  to  an  extreme,  to  ask  G?eat  Britain  to  consent  to 


li 


18 


DILEMMA   OF   THE   BRITISH   OOyERNMENT. 


II 


let  one  part  of  the  British  Empire  charge  a  high  rate  of 
dufcy  against  the  goods  of  another  part  of  that  Empire, 
while  admitting  free  of  duty  the  manufactures  of  the 
United  States,  her  great  commercial  rival.  It  is  even 
going  a  step  further  than  this,  because  if  the  tariff 
under  the  proposed  continental  Commercial  Union  is 
to  be  regulp-ted  anywhere,  it  must  be  at  Washington  ; 
so  that  in  the  event  of  the  Canadian  Parliament  pass- 
ing a  bill  for  Commercial  Union  with  the  United  States, 
the  spectacle  would  be  presented  of  Congress  fixing  the 
rate  of  duty  which  shall  prevail  thereafter  in  nearly 
one-half  of  the  British  Empire,  as  against  the  goods 
manufactured  in  another  portion  of  that  Empire.  It 
will  be  seen,  therefore,  that,  if  the  people  of  Canada 
were  in  earnest  in  their  desire  for  open  and  unrestricted 
trade  with  the  United  States,  and  made  such  an  ex- 
pression of  their  views  through  Parliament, — as  they 
certainly  would, — the  dilemma  of  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment would  be  extreme.  That  Government  would 
either  have  to  renounce  the  principles  of  free  trade 
which  her  people  have  preached  with  such  force  for  so 
many  years,  or  it  would  have  to  give  perfect  liberty  to 
Canada  to  trade  with  whom  she  chose.  The  Imperial 
Government,  on  the  one  hand,  would  be  compelled 
to  continue  to  Canada  that  liberty  which  she  has 
hitherto  enjoyed,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  refuse  it,  and 
thus  afford  a  justification  for  a  severance  of  the  tie 
which  has  bound  her  with  silken  cords  and  with  such 
affectionate  regard  that  to  talk  of  severing  it  now  is 
considered  as  the  highest  form  of  treason.  If  Her 
Majesty  should  refuse   to  consent  to  this  act  of  the 


A   OHANGEP    POLITICAL    COMPLEXION. 


19 


Canadian  Parliament  in  favor  of  Commercial  Union 
which  would  advance  the  interests  of  five  millions 
of  her  Canadian  agricultural  subjects,  and  sac- 
rifice them  for  the  benefit  of  half  a  million 
English  manufacturers,  a  serious  shock  would  be 
givett  to  the  relations  that  now  exist,  and  the 
annexation  sentiment  would  then  seem  to  many  to  be 
justifiable.  It,  on  the  other  hand,  Imperial  consent 
were  given  for  a  Commercial  Union  with  the  United 
States,  as  in  the  end  it  no  doubt  would  be,  the  effect 
upon  Canada  and  its  future  would  be  decisive  and  re-  ; 
markable.  An  open  market  for  her  minerals,  her  vast 
fishing  possibilities,  and  enormous  timber  resources, 
with  other  stores  of  wealth,  would  soon  beget  an  immi- 
gration into  Canada  of  Americans  and  their  followers 
that  would  assuredly  so  change  the  political  com-v 
plexion  of  the  country  that  within  two  or  three  Parlia- 
ments she  might  find  an  outcome  in  an  altered  destiny. 
If,  in  the  meantime,  the  great  problem  of  self-govern- 
ment had  been  successfully  worked  out  in  the  United 
States, — if  a  right  solution  had  been  achieved  of  many 
troublesome  questions  now  impending,  and  the  at- 
tractiveness of  American  institutions  were  such  as  to 
induce  an  annexation  propaganda, — it  could  then,  with 
far  greater  probability  of  success,  be  promoted.  So 
that  through  Commercial  Union  some  will  see  a 
short  cut  to  annexation,  while  to  others  this 
proposed  kind  of  partnership  indefinitely  postpones  it. 
It  is  argued  by  these  latter  that  if  all  the  advantages 
of  a  union  of  the  material  interests  on  the  continent  of 
North  America  are  procured  by  the  obliteration  of  the 


20 


A   CONTINENTAL   TARIFF. 


I 


f 


trade  line  lietwGon  tlio  two  countries,  there  will  be  no 
desire  for  a  political  union.  Even  if  such  should  bo  the 
result,  neither  side  need  complain.  The  future  may 
well  be  left  to  take  care  of  itself  in  this  respect,  for 
meantime  all  the  profits  from  a  vastly  increased  trade, 
all  the  opportunities  for  growth  and  development 
essential  to  a  better  condition,  either  for  subsequent 
union  or  an  essential  independence,  will  be  equally 
shared  by  the  American  as  by  the  Canadian.  Serious 
questions  threatening  the  peace  of  the  two  great  Eng- 
lish speaking  nations  of  the  world  can  be  most 
readily  adjusted,  the  transportation  regulation  prob- 
lem solved,  and  a  greatly  improved  relation  estab- 
'  lished,  by  lifting  up  the  customs  line  that  now  runs 
athwart  the  continent,  and  making  it  of  uniform  height, 
placing  it,  by  mutual  consent,  right  around  the  conti- 
nent. Thus  will  come  to  the  free  trader,  a  welcome  in- 
stalment of  his  desire  for  a  larger  market,  and  to  the 
protectionist  an  extension  of  the  principles  which  he 
claims  are  most  adapted  to  develop  the  best  interests 
of  both  countries.  If  in  this  latter  extension  he  can 
include,  without  disturbing  the  equilibrium  of  taxation, 
an  abundant  supply  of  raw  material,  the  duty  on  which 
is  now  the  chief  point  of  attack,  and  his  weakest  point 
of  defense,  a  double  purpose  will  be  accomplished,  in 
the  maintenance  of  the  tariff  at  its  existing  high  rate, 
while  permitting  a  free  supply  of  raw  material, 
furnished  by  consumers  who  would  absorb  a  proportion- 
ate amount  of  the  industrial  products  which  it  con- 
tributed to  create. 


II 


THE   INDEl'KNDENOE   OF   CANADA. 


.'Mt- 


<./■ 


,  Tlio  defltiny  that  awaits  the  greater  half  of  the  cou- 
tinent,  now  included  within  the  British  possessions  in 
North  America,  is  a  subject  of  the  most  profound  in- 
terest. Tf,  as  resulting  from  a  Commercial  Union  with 
the  United  States,  and  the  political  consequences  that 
would  follow  from  an  enormous  increase  in  population, 
with  a  dissatisfaction  with  colonialism  and  the  develop- 
ment of  a  real  national  life,  a  movement  should  set  in 
for  the  Independence  of  Canada,  it  would  take  but  a 
few  years  to  achieve  it.  Already  there  is  a  tendency 
in  this  direction  in  the  Canadian  mind,  especially 
among  the  young  men  of  Canada ;  and  there  would  be 
less  disinclination  on  the  part  of  English  statesmen  to 
favor  a  movement  of  that  character  in  preference  to 
absorption  by  the  United  States.  The  Independence 
of  Canada  could  result  only  in  the  creation  of  a  great 
Republic  founded  upon  very  much  the  same  principles 
as  those  that  now  pervade  the  United  States.  The 
area,  comprising  now  eleven  provinces  and  territories, 
could  be  divided  advantageously  into  thirty  States ; 
and  if  the  movement  towards  a  Republic  should  have 
the  hearty  cooperation  and  all  the  commercial  advan- 
tages of  a  close  union  with  the  United  States,  no 
greater  achievement  could  be  imagined  tlian  to  build 
up  a  great  nation,'  composed  of  people  of  the  same 
lineage,  the  same  language,  the  same  laws,  and  the 
same  literature,  governed  by  the  same  principles,  and 
having  the  same  destiny  in  the  advancement  of  civiliza- 
tion. England  would  be  benefited,  the  United  States 
would   have   a   constant   contribution  to  its  greatness 


1 

V 
V 


22 


THE   LOOIC   OP   EVENTS. 


without  iDcreased  responsibility,  and  the  new  Canadian 
Kepublic  would  occupy  a  place  before  the  world  such 
as  her  magnificent  proportions,  her  vast  wealth,  and 
the  genius  of  her  people  pould  entitle  her  to. 

EllAS^rUS  WiMAN. 

New  York,  August,  1889. 


#.j| 


li 


5  I. 


[28080] 


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and 


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